Noise when turning wheel

L5

MK4 golf making a high pitched whining noise when im travelling at relatively high (60km/hr) speeds. This seems to only occur when i turn the wheel a bit left or right i.e. taking a long left or right turn. I cant pinpoint where in the car its coming from, not even if its from the front or back. Its not an especially loud noise, but id just like to know whats causing it.
Any ideas?
thanks

flanzer

Most likely the CV joint.....could set you back about €200 to get sorted

Seth Brundle

Wouldn't a CV joint rattle or knock?
A high pitched whine sounds more like a wheel bearing.

Kermitt

Me agrees with Kbannon, wheel bearing most likely. CV joint rattles and clunks at low speed and when pressure put on the drives (ie. full lock) Bearings whine at high speeds when seals are going and bearing becomes slightly loose. Cheap enough to repair.

L5

hope its just the bearing so! Would we be talking more than 50 notes all in to repair?
thanks

BrianD3

A bearing will tend to make a "humming" noise rather than a whine. But the rest of what you wrote does suggest a bearing. If the hum happens on right hand bends then it'll be a bearing on the passenger side. And vice versa if it happens on left hand bends.

As for cost. I paid around 70 euros before for a rear wheel bearing and around 90 for a front. That was on a renault but I imagine VWs are similar. The rear bearing took about an hours labour to fit. The front took a bit longer IIRC 1.5 hours.

If you get parts from GSF car parts it should work out cheaper than getting one from VW and any competent garage will be able to fit them.

Con_316

There's something ye havnt mentioned lads, power steering. That often whines if it needs attention.

OMcGovern

Maybe a kitten trapped in the left wheel arch ?

AMurphy

First item I'd check is the level of the power steering fluid, if you have PS fitted.
After that, some drive bearing somewhere.

Seth Brundle

AMurphy wrote:

First item I'd check is the level of the power steering fluid, if you have PS fitted.
After that, some drive bearing somewhere.

It could be this alright given the reference to it happening when turning either way.

AMurphy

A few items to keep in mind on low PS fluid.
apart from the noise, which becomes very apparent if you open the hood and have someone else turn and lock the steering.
If air in the fluid causing pump damage. so it is not a condition you'd want to ignore for long.

Also check for leaks from anywhere in the pipes, shaft seals, rack seals and pipes, cause you might fill it and it leaks within a month again.

I had a sticking servo valve about a year ago, so just when you want to make a fast one handed turn into a parking stall, it woud suddenly go heavy as a stopped truck.
First cheap solution I tried appears to have worked. ie replaced the PS fluid.
To do this simply, I siphoned out the reservoir only, refilled, drove for a while, then repeated, over and over until I had 99% new fluid. Problem has not returned since.
Since then I have taken to replacing the contents of the reservoir with every oil change, (No disassembly required) keeps the fluid nice and fresh overall.